Editorial: Help local merchants and you help yourself

It’s known as Black Friday, but there is reason to fear this year’s day-after-Thanksgiving seasonal shopping spree might be Bleak Friday.

It’s known as Black Friday, but there is reason to fear this year’s day-after-Thanksgiving seasonal shopping spree might be Bleak Friday.

“Cautious shoppers crunched by credit and spooked by the economic crisis are expected to spend more carefully this holiday season,” reported the Las Vegas Sun on Tuesday, citing retail organizations.

The nation’s economic turmoil has retailers braced for slower-than-usual activity on the traditional start the holiday shopping sprint. Savvy shoppers are being even more careful than usual in deciding what to buy — and, just as importantly, where to buy it.

All of which makes it even more important than ever for shoppers to consider spending their holiday dollar as locally as possible.

Consider the benefits:

• You will save time, as well as gas and wear and tear on your car.

• A percentage of the sales taxes you pay on your purchases comes back to the municipality in which you make your purchases. Obviously the more sales tax income a municipality receives, the lower the real estate taxes which residents of that municipality must pay.

• When you patronize local stores, a goodly portion of the wages those stores pay their employees goes back to work in the local economy in all sorts of ways.

• The more you shop locally, the more our local stores are able to contribute toward the support of a variety of worthwhile community projects. To whom do local charitable organizations turn first when they try to raise money for their projects? The merchants, of course. And by and large our merchants give generously. Our merchants are among our best citizens. They support our communities.

• Online shopping is more and more popular and more and more local companies are offering their wares online.

Now, not everyone can complete their shopping around the corner from their house. But if you can’t find what you need in town, consider another town within your school district or, at least, within the county.

Local merchants are among our best citizens, helping the community in a variety of ways that help the rest of us. So whenever possible, patronize them. When you do, you will also be helping your community and, hence, yourself.